Chapter 177: The Birth Of A Perfect Work
The emergence of the situation where the Five Emperors stand together marks that the era of great pirates has fully entered its most intense phase, with pirate power reaching its peak.
As the news from World Economy News Paper spread across the globe and was acknowledged by all, the pressure quickly mounted on the Marines.
As the force that upholds law on the seas and symbolizes justice, the Marines have their greatest weaknesses in the Sabaody Archipelago and the New World.
One is the most chaotic island nearby, while the other is a region so powerful that, despite their efforts, the Marines can only maintain two bases at most. Any more, and pirates will actively disrupt the balance.
Before Akainu became Fleet Admiral and relocated Marine Headquarters from Marineford in the first half of the Grand Line to the New World, Marine's influence in the New World was minimal.
But this couldn't be helped.
After all, compared to the fiercest seas, the Four Seas are the largest and home to most nations allied with the World Government.
Besides their complete dominance of the first half of the Grand Line, most of the Marine's forces are spread thin across the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line. There just aren't enough troops to challenge the pirates ruling the strongest seas and standing on the highest stage.
Unless the Marines choose to expand.
However, expanding the military isn't as simple as just wanting more soldiers. This requires strict reviews, and the biggest obstacle is the financial burden on the nations.
The reason the Marines are unable to act independently and remain under the World Government's control is that their fate is tied to the World Government's funding.
If the World Government were to cut off their military budget, the Marines, one of the largest organizations in the world, would soon collapse.
The economy is vital, no matter the world.
Even for someone as strong as Kahn, if the "Cross Guild" is to rise as a superpower rivalling the Marines and the World Government, it must rely on technology and vast sums of money.
If it weren't for his unique medicine, now available in hospitals worldwide, alongside his high-quality hot and cold weapons, and the six island ships—one of which is recognized globally as the top entertainment city raking in enormous profits—Kahn couldn't have created an army of cloned and modified individuals in such large numbers so quickly.
Kahn has one advantage over the World Government.
He generates money at an astonishing rate and doesn't need to support the CP Organization, Marine Headquarters, or the extravagant lifestyle of the Celestial Dragons.
All of his profits are reinvested into scientific research.
With financial freedom, Kahn is able to start over as many times as necessary in his pursuit of perfection.
After two years of effort, with the combined work of Vinsmoke Judge, Queen, and the assistance of Caesar, Kahn's scientific research achieved a major breakthrough, thanks to Monet's Paramecia-type Op-Op Fruit.
The Cross Guild's perfect creation was born!
Watching their flawless creation evolve from an embryo to a baby, Ian and Monet were filled with a deep sense of accomplishment.
Like the Seraphim, the Cross Guild's perfect creation is based on the bloodline factor of the Lunarian tribe, extracted from the King of the Beasts Pirates.
The adaptability of this extinct race of gods, the Lunarians, to survive in any environment makes them the ultimate mediators in this world.
Building on the bloodline factor of the Lunaria tribe, Kaido's bloodline factor was also added.
As a result, the "Cross Guild's" perfect creation largely resembles Bell but with Kaido's distinctive ghostly horns.
Of course, only a basic outline is visible now.
Since the perfect creation was just born, it's still a baby and needs to be placed in the training chamber for five years, like the other cloned and modified beings, before it can mature to the equivalent of a twenty-year-old.
However, similar to those clones, Kahn didn't allow the perfect creation to grow naturally. Instead, he sought the assistance of a Kuja warrior, who had taken control of Shinobu's body, to accelerate the perfect creation's growth to the stage of a twenty-year-old.
Like the Seraphim from the original story, this perfect creation isn't truly human.
To give him the ability to consume a Devil Fruit and maximize his growth potential, Kahn allowed only one-third of his body to retain human characteristics.
Thus, even though the perfect creation has matured to twenty years of age, his consciousness is nothing more than that of an obedient machine.
At twenty years old, the perfect creation looks exactly like Bell, with Kaido's horns on his head.
Even with his eyes closed, awaiting activation by Kahn, who is both his creator and father, the body of the perfect creation radiates an overwhelming, oppressive aura.
Since both Bell and Kaido belong to powerful races but are not excessively tall, the perfect creation stands at an impressive six meters in height.
His physique is even more powerful than one could imagine.
Thanks to the modifications made by Monet's Paramecia-type Op-Op Fruit and genetic enhancements, his body possesses the strongest exoskeleton technology from Germa 66.
This exoskeleton gives the perfect creation of extraordinary resilience and defence. Even if his entire body were shattered or severely fractured, he would be able to heal and stand back up like normal after a short time.
His regenerative abilities are even more remarkable than those of an awakened Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
Additionally, the perfect creation has one of the Lunarians' unique talents that Kuina never had, nor desired—the ability to produce fire.
In terms of strength and speed, he matches Kaido's remarkable abilities, even though his body size doesn't seem to align with such power.
Moreover, his body is equipped with Queen's laser technology and advanced weapon systems.
Kahn doesn't need to create additional weapons for the perfect creation. If he wishes, his arms can easily transform into various weapons, such as blades and other cold weapons.
However, to further enhance his combat abilities, Kahn plans to forge a weapon made from Seastone for the perfect creation.
This will ensure that Logia-type Devil Fruit users cannot escape him through elementalization.
Lastly, Kahn also designed a Germa 66 combat suit for the perfect creation.
Despite integrating Bell's and Kaido's bloodline factors, the perfect creation not only inherits Bell's appearance and Kaido's ghost horns but also has the black wings of the Lunarians and the ability to create flames.
Even without the combat suit or any floating devices, he can fly.
But when equipped with the suit, his strength will skyrocket, making him an overwhelming threat.
The combat suit Kahn crafted is an invisible black model, much like Sanji's.
With all these enhancements, the perfect creation's power and potential have reached terrifying levels.
Once he consumes the Mythical Zoan-type Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Yamata no Orochi, his overall strength and potential will grow even more, granting him additional lives as well.
If such a powerful being could also turn invisible, he would become the world's second most dangerous assassin, just after Sonia.
As the first perfect creation of the "Cross Guild," he is well worth Kahn's investment.
Kahn gazed up at the six-meter-tall perfect creation and spoke, activating him and giving him a name: "Wake up… From now on, you will be the Cross Guild's ultimate creation."
*Swish*
As Kahn's words echoed, the perfect creation, whose eyes had remained shut until now, suddenly opened them.
First, a red light flashed, resembling the cloned soldiers' eyes. After the red light faded, a pair of unique eyes appeared in the perfect creation's sockets.
Golden eyes, not like the Seraphim's star-shaped ones, but eyes with the Arabic numeral "1" inscribed within.
This creation is the Perfect One.
----------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion